


Astounded

by keeptogethernow



Series: Support Systems [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Bruce is so tired, Cute Kids, Family Bonding, Fluff and Humor, For Science!, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, One Shot, Pyromania, Short & Sweet, Sibling Bonding, Tim will eat anything, not really - Freeform, things are on fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:16:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8429398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keeptogethernow/pseuds/keeptogethernow
Summary: Astoundedverb (used with object)1. to overwhelm with amazement; astonish greatly; shock with wonder or surprise.adjective2. Archaic. astonished; astounded.





	

It’s only seven o’clock in the morning when Bruce Wayne wakes up to the sound of the fire alarm going off and somebody shouting. He groans and listens for a moment, praying that whatever it is will resolve itself without his intervention. But the shouting only intensifies, while the alarm continues blasting its annoying noise throughout the large estate.

By the time he shuffles downstairs, the alarm suddenly ceases, filling the air with an eerie silence. Rounding the corner to the kitchen, he comes in to find Damian in the act of clambering off of the counter, broom still in hand, having smashed the device into silence.

Dick appears to be torn between the bowl of breakfast cereal in his hands and helping, while Tim sits cross-legged on one of the bar stools, eating his own breakfast and watching with wide eyes. Cass sits next to him, watching the entire scene cheerfully, munching on a piece of toast. Slightly unexpectedly, he sees that Jason is there as well, looking slightly surprised at the entire thing.

Of course, this is when Bruce finally notices that there is what appears to be a toaster oven on fire, blazing away cheerfully in the corner of the room.

“What…” Bruce shakes his head, taking in the scene. “What is going on?”

Damian guiltily tries to hide the broom behind his back. Tim jumps slightly and then blinks owlishly at him. Cass grins.

“Nothing!” Jason and Dick both say at the same time.

“Why is the…ah—“

“’s a convection oven.” Tim supplies helpfully.

“Yes, thank you, Tim. Why is the _convection oven_ on fire?”

Of course, his children decide that they should all answer at once, except for Cass, who keeps nibbling at her toast. Already feeling exhausted beyond all reason, Bruce holds up his hands for silence.

“More importantly, _why is it_ still _on fire?”_

Jason shrugs. “Thought we’d teach the kids about fire extinguishers. Y’know, for science.”

Bruce gapes, astounded at the complete ridiculousness of it all.

“Yeah!” Dick nods in agreement and turns to look at Damian. “So…what puts out fires?”

“Water.” Damian replies tersely. “Or suffocation.” This last phrase sounds more like a threat than an answer.

“Sure.” Dick agrees, shooting a look at Bruce to gauge his reaction. “Now put the broom back, please. Hey, Cassie, any thoughts?”

The girl hums thoughtfully, before suggesting “Baking…um, dust?”

“Soda.” Jason corrects, clearly enjoying himself thoroughly. “Baking soda. And you’re right.”

Feeling pretty sure that the entire situation is spinning drastically out of control, Bruce interjects.

“Hold it! The thing is _still_ on fire.”

“Oh.” Cass hops down and taps on Jason’s shoulder, pointing towards a cabinet. “Hang on.”

Jason dutifully opens the cabinet and reaches to one of the higher shelves, pulling down a box of baking soda. Cass takes it and cheerfully walks over to the spreading fire. She opens the box and proceeds to toss handfuls of the powder onto the flames.

Before Bruce can say _anything,_ Damian sighs and snaps “That’s completely ineffective.”

And he watches as his youngest child strides to the sink, turns on the water, grabs the spray nozzle, and turns to spray the fire. Finally, the man’s body catches up and he snatches the hose away.

“It’s an electric fire.” Bruce says, turning the water off. “You _can’t_ spray water at it.”

Of course, Jason seems to feel the need to throw fuel onto the proverbial fire by suggesting “Why don’t you try blowing it out, brat?”

Damian considers, Bruce turns to glare, and Jason grins and shrugs. Then Damian grabs a hand towel and starts fanning it at the flames. The boy frowns, proclaiming that “this is not effective,” before _throwing_ the towel onto the flames, presumably to smother it.

By this point, _of course,_ the flames have spread to the surrounding counter, the wall behind, and the bottoms of some of the cabinets above. Bruce is already envisioning the entire Manor, which has survived floods, fires, _earthquakes,_ and his children, burnt to the ground because of a ridiculous “science lesson” involving a flaming convection oven.

“So…what else will put out a fire?” Dick’s query snaps Bruce back to the situation at hand. “Any suggestions, B?”

“I’ve got one.” Tim says mildly from the back of the room, before Bruce can speak.

Everyone turns to look at the teenager, the only one to remain silent thus far.

“Yeah?” Jason looks curious. “Whatcha got?”

Tim shrugs and walks over to look at the fire…and pulls out the fire extinguisher. He proceeds to spray the flame-killing foam liberally all over the counter top, cabinets, and oven. If he _does_ go a little over-board with the whole thing, well, Bruce won’t complain.

Finally, Tim stops, declaring “That’s what I got.” Then he shoves the extinguisher into Jason’s hands and walks back over to his seat, picking his bowl of cereal back up. Bruce blinks, the entire situation still overwhelming his groggy mind.

After a second or two, the others start to settle back into their own routines, leaving Bruce to be confused alone.

“Um…” He finally comes up with words. “ _Why_ was the oven on fire to begin with?”

“Oh!” Dick shrugs, pouring more cereal into his bowl. “Cass was making Tim some toast.”

Bruce doesn’t see a connection. Thankfully, his daughter takes some pity on him, elaborating slightly.

“His food… _disgusting._ I was _helping.”_

“I…see.” Bruce looks over at Tim, trying to figure out what his son did that warranted such a response. The boy shrugs, slurping on his spoonful of… “Is that, um, that milk is _orange._ ”

Jason groans in disgust. “That’s cuz it’s _not_ milk. It’s fu—reaking orange juice.” He catches himself before Bruce can admonish him.

“Why are you eating orange juice in your cereal?” Bruce stares incredulously. He’s a little astounded _and_ revolted by the fact that Tim can stomach this particularly strange combination.

“ _They,”_ Tim gestures angrily at his brothers. “Used _all_ the milk. And I wanted cereal.”

Dick shakes his head slowly in disbelief. “We didn’t think he’d _actually eat_ it, Bruce. I swear, we all thought he’d take one bite of that orange juice and Lucky Charms concoction and be done.”

“Well, I for one expected this.” Damian chimes in. “After all, Drake really has no taste.”

And Bruce feels the exhaustion coming back as he watches Tim flip off the younger boy, before returning to his revolting breakfast. Cass shakes her head despairingly.

“Be nice.” She orders, pointing at Damian and glaring at Tim. Then turning to Bruce, “Jason needs…teach me _how_ to use…that.” She gestures towards the charred, foamy equipment.

“I was going to!” Jason protests. “Honest, B, I didn’t _let_ her use the oven. I was gonna help, but then _Dick_ distracted me, and voila! Flaming toast.”

Tim, Bruce notes out of the corner of his eye, is watching this exchange with a very wide smile that he’s hiding behind his bowl. For a moment, Bruce has to wonder if his son engineered this entire event just to see what would happen. He catches the boy’s eye, and Tim give him a rather innocent expression—one of his rare, real ones, which dispels Bruce’s suspicions thoroughly.

“Okay.” Bruce says tiredly, surveying the room. “Dick, you need to get that mess cleaned up before Alfred sees. Jason, please either fix the alarm or make it disappear. Cass?”

The girl inclines her head in acknowledgment.

“Please don’t make anything else without some help.”

She nods.

“Damian, you need to get dressed and take your dog out before he destroys anything else.” Bruce doesn’t tell him _what_ Titus damaged, because he thinks it’ll be much more entertaining to watch the child search frantically. “And Tim…” He hesitates, because he’s not actually sure _what_ Tim should do _or_ what they should do with him. “…just…no more orange juice in your cereal, okay? It seems to make everyone else upset.”

Tim rolls his eyes, but doesn’t protest. He does, however, point out “At least I _ate.”_

Bruce sighs, really wishing he could go back to bed. “Yes. You did.”

He gets a cup of coffee and watches as his children move on to the rest of their morning, enjoying the newly restored peace. Of course, it won’t last, and he’s well aware of this. But for now, Bruce takes the chance to watch as these strange creatures who’ve stolen their way into his life interact and just… _live._ And again, he’s astounded.

**Author's Note:**

> I needed some happy. And also, if you ever wondered what my life was like as child...this is pretty much it. Both things have happened. We did light a toaster oven on fire by accident, and then have a "science lesson" before putting it out, but it was my MOTHER who facilitated the lesson. I'm also not the one who ate Lucky Charms and orange juice, for the record.


End file.
